A Dangerous Mind
by HockeyRocks
Summary: Epilogue is up and therefore the story is finished! A serial killer is stalking Norfolk s streets and the team has to race against time to save his thrid victim, a four-year-old boy and one of their own. Kate-/Gibbs-centric
1. Prologue

**A Dangerous Mind**

By HockeyRocks, 2009

Pairing: Established Kibbs  
Disclaimer: NCIS and all the related characters belong to DPB, no copyright infringement intended. The same applies for the lyrics in the beginning of each Chapter they belong to the rightful owners as mentioned.  
Warnings: This story is completely AU (since Kate is alive and well), furthermore there are (many) OOC moments and it is set in 2007.

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"_Once more I'll say goodbye to you.  
Things happen but we don't really know why.  
If it's supposed to be like this, why do most of us ignore the chance to miss?"_

_All These Things I Hate by Bullet for My Valentine_

Prologue

"Alright Alex, I want you to go ahead to the car and wait there for me. I´ll be there in minute I just forgot to buy some apples." Julie Hodge said and the four-year-old boy nodded slowly, but not moving a single inch. The blond woman looked down at him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Can I have the gummy bears while I wait for you?" The child asked and shot her a bright smile. Julie just nodded and fetched the small plastic bag out of the shopping cart. Still smiling the child grabbed the bag and the blonde opened the car for him with the remote control. Like always the best parking spaces were already taken when they arrived, but Alexander was old enough to go alone to the furthest corner of the parking lot. "Thanks, mom."

"Don´t eat them all alone, okay? I´m sure your dad wants some too in the evening." She called after him and the redhead nodded, turning around and walking towards the car. Julie turned around as well, heading back into the supermarket to get what she forgot. This time the queue in front of the cash point was longer and she became slightly nervous because she let her son wait outside alone for so long. Finally the blonde woman stepped out into the blaring light of noonday sun, hurrying over to her car.

"Okay Alex now we can head home now…" The woman said and her smile vanished completely as soon as she recognized that her son wasn´t in the backseat waiting for her. Quickly she scanned the surrounding area from her position inside the car, but there was no sign of her son. She tried to calm herself by thinking that he was just playing a game of hide and seek with her so she stepped out of the car again and took another look. "Alright you won, Alex, but now we have to leave. Come on the game is over now I have to fix dinner before your dad comes home."

Impatiently tapping her foot on the concrete ground she waited for the redhead to appear just from anywhere. After another minute there was still no sign of the child and Julie started to worry, she rounded the car and when she found the still closed bag of gummy bears she knew that there was something really wrong. "Alexander Hodge where are you?"

"Excuse me, have you seen my son? He is four. Red hair, white t-shirt and brown shorts… About this height." Julie held her hand up as if she was putting her hand on his head, but the older woman she had asked just shook her head. The blond woman went over to a man who was loading his groceries into his truck, but he didn´t see Alex either. Ever so slowly the woman was becoming desperate and doubts were creeping up in the back of her head. Obviously she hadn´t taught him Stranger Danger well enough. "Have you seen my son?"

Another no and she finally got her cell phone to call the police. They told her that he probably just ran away and would come home the next day. If he didn´t come back the next day she should call again and then they would start searching for him. Frustrated the woman hung up and threw her groceries into the car, starting another round on the parking lot to see if Alex really wasn´t anywhere. When she couldn´t find him after two hours she finally climbed into the car and drove off. While driving home she was already contemplating what she would next. Probably it would help to call all his friends to see if he showed up there.

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A/N: I know this is short and that is why I simultaneously posted the first Chapter.


	2. Chapter 1

"_Twenty years it's breaking you down, now that you understand there's no one around.  
Take a breath, just take a seat, you're falling apart and tearing at the seams.  
Heaven forbid you end up alone and you don't know why.  
Hold on tight wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright…"_

_Heaven Forbid by The Fray_

Chapter I

The key was twisted in the lock and a short moment later the door swung open without a sound. His house was dark just like the streets outside and when he glanced at the glowing hands of the clock in the kitchen he couldn´t repress a sigh. Once again the team stayed in the office long after midnight and if Gibbs didn´t tell them to go home at 0115 and get some sleep they would be still there and going through the rare evidence they collected so far for like the thousandth time. Early in the morning they were called to Norfolk only to discover the body of a second boy. This time it was the four-year-old son of a Lieutenant who had been missing for already two weeks now. They processed the scene extra carefully trying to get everything which might help them to catch the killer. Almost immediately they recognized the handwriting of the killer of Alexander Hodge who was murdered three weeks ago, down to the day.

Before his thoughts could go back completely to the case he spotted the small blinking lamp of the answering machine. He knew that it was most likely Kate who called him from Indiana, but he also knew that she would probably sleeping by now. Originally they planned on visiting her parents together, but when they found the first dead boy he just had to stay here and work on that case with the team. He knew Caitlin was indeed disappointed that he missed another birthday, but he just couldn´t leave Tony in charge he had to solve this case with them since he knew what it meant when a child was taken away from his parents in such a brutal way. The gray-haired man unclipped his cell phone from his belt and started texting right now he was grateful that Kate forced him to learn how to do it. He was still slow, but five minutes later the message was on its way to Indiana.

The brunette had been hesitant to go there alone, but he told her that he would be fine here on his own. He already missed her since she was already gone for five days now, but knowing that she wouldn´t be home for another day didn´t help much. She left the team two years ago when their dating turned out to be more serious and in the beginning Jethro had been everything but sure if she should really sacrifice her career in the field for their relationship and for him. Kate had simply told him that she would leave the team anyway when they broke up and he understood what she meant. By now he was glad that she was just as stubborn as he was and didn´t want to think about how his life would be if she wasn´t there. Still he was struggling to open up to her in every situation, but she quickly learned to handle him in those situations. She would leave him alone with his boat for a few hours and wait until he came to her what he always did.

The unexpected ring of his cell phone literally yanked him out of his reverie and he glanced at the caller ID not really surprised to see Kate´s number and name flashing up. "Hey, I thought you were already sleeping that is why I didn´t call you."

"No, we were still sitting downstairs. The kids and my parents are in bed now so my sister, my brothers and I had some time to catch up alone, but I miss you here." She replied and could clearly hear the fatigue in his voice. "I guess you just came home from work?"

"I miss you too Katie and well you just know me too well." The older man replied simply and smiled a little while he went upstairs to finally get some rest.

He knew sleep wouldn´t come easy tonight due to the case and talking to Kate even for only a few minutes was a welcome distraction for him. A way to shorten the time he was at home, alone in his spacious house. When he went on his voice gained a serious undertone and Kate knew immediately that he would tell her more about their current case. Though she wasn´t a part of the Gibbs-team anymore she was always well informed about the cases they worked on, on one hand because one of them always told her something and on the other hand she sometimes assisted them with a profile of their suspect. "We found another boy in the morning. It is most likely the same killer since everything seems to be the same, just that he was found in another part of Norfolk differs."

"Oh no..." Kate said and sighed. She could only imagine how hard it would be for him to work on this particular case and knowing how obsessed he could become with a case didn´t calm her down much either. "I can come back earlier and help you if you want. Maybe it helps to get to know how he or she thinks or why he or she does it."

"I don´t think that is necessary when you come back we still have five full days to find him before he or she goes on." The silver-haired man answered and Kate had to agree with that. The chances that she would catch a flight tomorrow were close to zero anyway. "You will be up to date with us in no time since we don´t have much yet."

"Alright. Well, I´ll see you tomorrow then." The brunette just said and glanced into the living room where her siblings were talking to and laughing with each other. "Bye Jethro."

"Bye Katie. Call me when you take off in Indiana, okay?" He asked and Caitlin agreed before both hung up.

Gibbs placed the small gadget on the nightstand to charge it and quickly got rid of his wrinkled clothes before he finally climbed into the now empty bed. It felt like more than a thousand thoughts were spinning around in his head, mainly about the case but also about his past and present life. He had to admit that this case affected him far more than he wanted to think about. Images of Kelly and Shannon were immediately there when he talked to the boy's parents. Talking to the mother of Cody Baker showed him clearly how far he could go.

_`You don´t know how it feels to lose your only child, special agent Gibbs.´_ Julie Baker said bitterly and glared at him just like he insulted her by expressing his sympathy. Pain shot through his body and he felt like he was back in 1992 when he had to bury Shannon and Kelly. He struggled hard to keep a straight face and a sober voice.

_`I know what that means, Mrs. Baker, again I´m really sorry for your loss and you´ll hear from us as soon as we caught Cody´s murderer.´_ He replied curtly and could feel DiNozzo´s questioning stare.

At the same time Jethro knew that the younger man was wiser than asking about this. Every agent he worked with seemed to be a bit afraid of him and at times like these it was rather useful though Tony was enough of a professional not to ask in front of Julie Baker. He was completely exhausted physically and emotionally the only thing he really looked forward to was Kate´s return on the next day. Her flight was scheduled to land at 2230 and he would be there to pick her up.

Two hours later the gray-haired man closed his eyes and tried to get rid of all the thoughts which were haunting him. This time he succeeded and drifted off into a light and dreamless sleep, waking up five hours later. At least physical he felt well enough to survive the day and before he went back into the office he stopped at his favorite coffee dealer to get some coffee and wake up fully. He wasn´t really surprised that neither Tim nor Tony were already there, but he knew they would arrive soon. These serial killings were taking their toll on every team member after all. It had been hard for all of them to bag and tag around a child´s body.

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A/N: Reviews are love, no matter if they are good or bad as long as they are constructive, so please leave some. I hope I can post one Chapter per week, you have been warned.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: So here is the next Chapter. I´m glad you all like the story so far: Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like the newest installment and it lives up to your expectations. =)

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"_You could be my unintended choice to live my life extended.  
You could be the one I'll always love.  
You could be the one who listens to my deepest inquisitions.  
You could be the one I'll always love.  
I'll be there as soon as I can.  
But I'm busy mending broken pieces of the life I had before..."_

_Unintended by Muse_

Chapter II

"Morning boss." Tim said and went over to his desk, sitting down but not missing Jethro´s small nod.

After almost four years in this team the gray-haired man was still an enigma to him he wasn´t able to unravel yet. How often had Abby told him over the years that Gibbs wasn´t as cold or reserved when one knew him better, but he couldn´t really believe that. During their work he had discovered that the former Marine had a soft spot for animals, children and obviously for Kate. That was another thing he couldn´t quite understand. He had pondered what a beautiful, confident and smart woman like Kate could see in a stern, in-eloquent and grumpy man like Gibbs was. He didn´t come to any conclusion that made sense to him so he just let go of that issue, accepting that the two were a couple and that they were happy.

"Gibbs, McGee…" Tony greeted curtly and sat down behind his desk without any more words spoken.

Even the Italian seemed to be seriously affected by their current case, since they found the first boy in Norfolk he didn´t made any kind of jokes. He even skipped the chance to make fun of Ziva´s continuing struggle with English idioms. The elevator opened again and Ziva entered the bullpen, completing the team. No matter how hard the team seemed to work they found nothing. The only things they found were the most obvious things, like that both boys were the sons of Marines and living on the base in Norfolk and both were only four-years-old. Nobody had seen anything when the boys were kidnapped from a parking lot and a playground, which were both public places. Their only chance to find this sick serial killer was the forensic evidence. Everyone hoped that either Ducky or Abby would find something useful, apart from just finding out that it was the same killer. Barely a few seconds passed before Gibbs placed the receiver of his phone in its cradle again and beckoned for the trio to follow him downstairs. In a second everyone´s hopes were up that they were anywhere closer to catching their killer and therefore everyone was eager to hear what Ducky found.

"What did you find out, Ducky?" The gray-haired man asked and the doctor shot him a look which told them that it wasn´t much.

"I´m afraid, Jethro, I can just confirm what you already assumed. Little Cody Baker here died of asphyxiation he was smothered to be precise supposedly with a pillow. As you know his hands and feet were tied and since there were no deep wounds beneath the rope I suppose he didn´t fight his attacker. Most likely he was asleep or unconscious or plainly too weak to fight back when it happened. Furthermore he lost a lot of weight while he was captured though he wouldn´t die because of that. Whoever captured our poor boy gave him just enough food and water to survive. There are also no fractured bones or other injuries, hence no signs of any kind of abusive behavior of the culprit." Donald explained as sober as possible but all of them could see the rage and disdain the older man felt for the murderer. "As you can see this is the handwriting of the murderer Alexander Hodge fell prey to three weeks earlier."

"Did you find anything else?" Jethro asked grimly while his team exchanged worried glances. They hoped Kate´s return would soothe his obsession with this case a little.

"Indeed, there was something under his fingernails. Abigail should be testing it at this moment I sent it to the lab yesterday when I finished the autopsy." The medical examiner answered and Gibbs nodded, slowly turning around to leave the morgue. "Jethro?"

Before he started speaking again Ducky waited until the automatic doors closed behind Tim, Ziva and Tony. He knew the trio was observant enough to notice their supervisor´s condition, but he didn´t want to undermine his authority or cause something else in that direction. "You won´t forget to pick Caitlin up from the airport in the evening, right?"

"I won´t, Ducky why do you think I would?" The investigator asked and frowned at his old friend. Sure he stayed in the office well after the usual work hours were over, but his whole team stayed there to catch the killer, only to save more children from dying. He didn´t see any harm in that, three marriages failed because he worked long hours but Kate had been in Indiana for the past days so he had the choice between coming home to an empty house or staying at NCIS trying to find new hints where actually nothing was. Literally Gibbs was caught between a rock and a hard place, or at least he felt like he was.

"Maybe the substance I found can give us some answers concerning where Cody Baker was kept and you seem very… Very into this case more than only determined." Donald explained carefully and could see Gibbs tense. His jaw locked in its position and if he didn´t know it better he would have said that the man in front of him was going into a defensive position. "Don´t get me wrong, but you seem to be rather obsessed with this case in a way it reminds me of your behavior during the whole mess with Ari Haswari."

"I know perfectly well when to stop, Ducky. Trust me." Jethro replied and without any other words spoken he left the morgue. The medical examiner furrowed a brow, doubting that Gibbs really knew when to stop. Usually he trusted the gray-haired man´s judgment, but on this particular case he wasn´t too sure about that.

"Gibbs, how many times did I tell you that you can´t rush science?" The forensic grinned victoriously and turned around, counting on the older man to stand there. As soon as she recognized that she was wrong once again her face fell and she turned back to look at her screen. First thing in the morning she found was Ducky´s bright yellow sticky note on her screen, telling her that she should get the specimen jar with the substance he found under Cody Baker´s fingernails. She got it and started testing it immediately.

"Way too often, Abbs." The older man stated and the black-haired woman jumped, letting out a squeak. Her hand shot up to her heart and she could feel it beating faster than usually. While the Goth glared at him he set down a new extra large cup of her favorite beverage on the table. "So can you tell me what this substance is Ducky found under Cody´s fingernails?"

Abigail took in a deep breath to calm down and stared at her screen for another moment before she answered. "Give my baby here another minute and then I can tell you."

The silver-haired man just nodded indignantly and after a few more seconds the mass spectrometer beeped and announced that the unknown substance was identified. "So?"

"It is paint, Gibbs-Man. Cody probably scratched on the walls, trying to find a way out of his prison. God, this is so cruel…" Abby explained and paused a moment to take a closer look at the result. "To be specific it is old paint. Here you can see it contains lead, nowadays you won´t find any kind of paint, which is used inside a building, containing lead. Next thing is the paint contains polysiloxane, silicone. That tells us you can wipe it clean, it is often used factories or warehouses to keep the rooms clean easily. In addition this kind of paint is very resistant because of the silicone it must have taken some time and strength to get it off the wall and under his fingernails, Gibbs."

"Good work, Abbs." Jethro stated and got a broad smile from the forensic. He turned around to leave the lab, but the younger woman stopped her.

"Isn´t Kate coming back today?"

"Yeah, her flight takes off in Indianapolis at 2200 so she should be in Washington around 2340." Jethro replied and wondered if Ducky told her about his concerns or if she was worrying about his sanity herself. "And no, I won´t forget to pick her up."

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Please tell me what you think after all reviews are love.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they always make my day. =) Now you will see if Gibbs forgets Kate. I hope you like the Chapter.

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"_Blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl oh, oh, the sweetest thing…  
You can sew it up, but you still see the tear oh, oh, the sweetest thing…  
Baby's got blue skies up ahead, but in this I'm a rain cloud.  
Ours is a stormy kind of love oh, oh, the sweetest thing…"_

_Sweetest Thing by U2_

Chapter III

Gibbs sipped his steaming hot coffee and glanced up at the schedule to check if Kate´s flight would be down later than 2340. To be honest he wouldn´t mind the wait one bit, on one hand he was glad that she was back after all he missed her, but on the other hand he knew that she would ask questions. Questioning him about how he felt and if he was really alright working this case and not only pretended to be, those questions he probably couldn´t or simply wasn´t ready to answer yet. After four marriages he knew women, especially his women, wanted to know how he felt about almost anything. Only with Shannon and now with Kate he was willing to at least try and answer, but at the moment he really didn´t feel like talking to anyone, not even to Caitlin. Another fifteen minutes –two cups of coffee and countless incredulous glances that he was really drinking coffee later – Kate´s flight was labeled as landed and the gray-haired man went over to the entrance, waiting for her to come out after she collected her luggage. A short moment later he spotted her dark brown hair behind a wall of suit clad business men.

"Hey." The older man greeted and gave her one of the smiles which were only reserved for her and the children they met on while working on a case. She smiled back before he leaned in to kiss her, noticing that his smile didn´t quite reach his eyes and perfectly knowing why. "Let me carry this for you, okay?"

"Thanks." The brunette replied and let him take her bag while she kept her purse and took his other hand. In the beginning of their relationship she had discovered that he liked to show that she belonged to him, but at the same time had some trouble with it because she was so much younger than he was. They had had a few discussions about that issue after that, but she quickly told him that she wouldn´t be with him if the fact that he was fifteen years her senior bothered her. "Did you make any breakthroughs since we last talked?"

"Well, Ducky found old paint under his fingernails, but since it was used in almost all warehouses until a few years ago it is almost impossible to find out which warehouse it is. Maybe Abby finds something else, she wasn´t through the whole stuff Ducky sent her when I last talked to her." The investigator explained and Kate knew that he was still too much into the case to talk about anything else. It always scared her to see him in that state he just looked so much older than he really was then and incredibly tired. Luckily he was rarely like that the last time she had seen him like that was years ago, when he was obsessed with the terrorist Ari Haswari, more than just determined to track him down and most likely kill him afterwards.

"That´s good, but you know you should let go of work, even if it's just for a few hours, Jethro." She said and glanced up at him while they walked towards the exit of the airport. Knowing that he would agree to almost anything if he looked into her eyes now he stared right ahead, willing his growing anger to vanish. Deep down he knew that she understood his passion for his work and more important he knew that she was right, he needed a break.

"Yeah, I know, but it is hard to shut everything out." He mumbled and finally opened the trunk of the dark blue Dodge to throw her bags in. Caitlin just nodded and silently climbed into the passenger´s seat, an idea forming in her head.

"Maybe we should both take a week off when this case is closed. Go somewhere and just… Just relax." She ended her sentence after missing a beat and for the first time she saw that Gibbs really looked at her, forgetting about everything the case brought up for just a second. "What do you think about that?"

"I think it´s a good idea."

"You think it is a good idea?" The brunette asked a little taken aback and Jethro nodded, furrowing a brow. To be honest she had counted on him saying that it wasn´t necessary or arguing that she just had a week off and couldn´t take another week off that soon. "Then, okay."

The gray-haired man nodded once again and zoomed out of the parking lot. They were home in less than half an hour due to Gibbs´ driving style and the barely-there traffic at that time. As soon as the couple entered the bedroom Kate dropped her bag and quickly got rid of her wrinkled clothes after she made a bee-line for the bathroom. She knew Gibbs missed her, he had said it on the phone the day before, but she also knew that he would probably vanish into the basement for a few hours despite it was her first evening at home again. When Caitlin stepped out of the bathroom she was utterly surprised to find the gray-haired man already in their bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" The brunette asked reluctantly and a long beat passed before Gibbs finally looked at her and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I´m just tired." He started and turned to rest on his side, facing Kate while she slipped under the covers. "I didn´t really sleep while you were in Indiana."

Kate just nodded and was grateful to see that he needed her that much. She knew this phenomenon herself, at her parents´ house in Indiana she didn´t sleep much herself. On one hand she had missed her boyfriend too and on the other hand being under one roof with her parents, her four siblings and their children always evicted a variety of feelings inside her. She wasn´t really surprised that her brothers started questioning her about her rarely seen boyfriend after their parents left, as long as she could think they were nosy about anything. "Me neither."

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	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys I´m glad you liked the Chapter, so here is the next Chapter.  
PartyGirl216: Yeah when I heard the song for the first time, I thought of them so I just had to use it.  
meherm: Well, you will see, all I say for now that it probably won´t be that easy… ;)

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"_And it's you I see but you don't see me…  
And it's you I hear so loud and so clear…  
I sing it loud and clear…  
And I'll always be waiting for you…"_

_Shiver by Coldplay_

Chapter IV

"Kate?" Anthony asked and openly stared at the brunette, meeting her appearance with slight disbelief and surprise. That she was here in their office wasn´t exactly odd because she was `hopping´ through the whole agency, along with three other NCIS profiler to help every team with profiling their suspects. The thing which was really odd was the fact that she was sitting behind Gibbs' desk, placidly reading what they found out about the homicides so far. Caitlin just furrowed a querying brow and he flashed her one of his best smiles. "Hey, it's nice to see you, I was just surprised. How was your family reunion?"

The Italian knew he just got his act together, but also knew that she could see right through his façade. "It was interesting and nice to see you too, Tony, but given your earlier reaction Gibbs asked me to profile the killer. Maybe it helps you to catch him before another kid dies."

"Uh-huh…" Anthony mumbled and threw his bag behind his desk, sitting down afterwards. The agent quickly sifted through his mail and other papers which were littering his desk before he looked at Caitlin again. "By the way where is the boss, since you´re sitting behind his desk?"

"He wanted to get coffee, we´re talking about Gibbs after all. Aren´t Ziva and McGee supposed to be here by now?" The female profiler asked, deliberately changing the topic. Outside of NCIS Tony was a good friend of Kate´s, but also one she rarely discussed her love life with. The dark-haired man agreed and just nodded towards the main elevator, where the agents in questions just appeared. "Ah, okay never mind."

Tim and Ziva also greeted Kate, the latter a little confused that the brunette was sitting behind her boss' desk, obviously unperturbed by the fact that nobody except for Abby dared to sit on Gibbs' chair let alone settle down to work there. Her unasked question was indirectly answered when the gray-haired man entered the office and set the second cup of coffee he was carrying down in front of the brunette, giving her a small smile while he did so. When he turned around to face his agent the friendly expression on Jethro´s was replaced with the determined one everyone at work was used to quite well. "What did you find out about the local warehouses where the paint Ducky found under Cody Baker´s fingernails was used?"

"Well, we ruled out the few ones which are located in eastern Norfolk and the ones southwest because they are still in use without exception. Honestly I doubt someone can hold a four-year-old boy hostage for two weeks in warehouse which is still used no matter how professional he might be." The Italian explained curtly and the supervisory agent nodded, before Timothy spoke up.

"It was more difficult with the warehouses up North. Some are still used, but there are areas which were abandoned in the mid-eighties. We are not done with all of them now, I'm still checking them. The warehouses in the city are all used without exception." The youngest agent explained, also receiving a curt nod from his boss. The Mossad liaison was the next one to speak up and reveal her results.

"In western Norfolk the warehouses are in use, but there are also abandoned ones, but those are only a few and they are very walked-down." The Israeli explained and frowned at DiNozzo who was looking at her utterly amused. "What´s wrong with you?"

Anthony let out a small chuckle, but Jethro´s glare made him shut up immediately and the former chuckle morphed into a mere clearing of his throat. When the Italian answered his voice bore a forced sober tone. "The warehouses are run-down or left to decay, but walked-down doesn´t even exist."

"This language is killing me…" Ziva hissed and glared at him threateningly one last time before the trio scurried behind their desks again, waiting for new orders from their boss. The gray-haired man finished his coffee and threw the empty cardboard cup into the trash can, giving Kate a questioning look. Before the brunette could answer Gibbs' phone rang, demanding his attention. After a few grunted answers which were unintelligibly for the others in the office he finally hung up and looked at McGee.

"Abby found a hair on Cody Baker´s shirt she found a match, but the criminal record is sealed." The former Marine said and McGee paused for a moment, thinking the same like the three other agents who were present.

"Only the records of juvenile criminals are sealed…" He said finally but trailed off, getting the intention of his boss. The NCIS agent just nodded and grabbed his cell phone before he stood up to leave the office.

"I just need the name, McGee." Jethro stated and the younger man finally left the cubicle to help the forensic downstairs.

Both Gibbs and his agent knew they needed a warrant of attorney to open the file, but Tim knew they would get the warrant sooner or later, but he also knew that Gibbs wouldn´t wait for that since the life of another child was at stake. Nobody really wanted to wait for the warrant, but they knew they couldn´t question the suspect until they had the warrant so they made sure there were no procedural errors later on. They just were ahead of time with the search for the person when the warrant was effective. "How far are you with the profile, Kate?"

"I´m done with the basic stuff, but not with comparing the case to the statistics we have. To tell how he precedes, I need more time to check if one of the usual scenarios fits this case. All I can tell you now is that his behavior is escalating, he becomes more confident." The brunette paused to see if everyone was still following her. "You can see that from where he takes the children. Alexander Hodge was taken from a parking lot while his mother was in the supermarket, a very anonymous place where everyone is most likely too busy to notice anything like this except for trained people. Cody Baker was taken from the local playground while his mother was grabbing food from their car. This requires far more skills since he had to count on more people paying attention to the children. In both cases he must have lured the boys away with something."

"Didn´t one of the kids scream or struggle when he took them? I mean I really doubt their parents didn´t taught them Stranger Danger." Anthony intervened and Ziva nodded, wanting to ask the same question. "When I was four and some stranger wanted to take me away I would have screamed."

"Sure, it´s a natural reaction. But those people are able to tell which child wouldn´t scream and if not they are more than intelligent enough to take precautions, the easiest way is chloroform. You would never suspect a man to be a kidnapper only because he is carrying a sleeping child out of a park with a playground. Nobody can tell by only seeing a child whether he is drugged or just sleeping and you certainly wouldn´t approach him and ask if he has the right to take the kid." Caitlin explained and the trio nodded satisfied. "If you need me or the files I´m upstairs, I think I can get the profile done in about three hours."

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	6. Chapter 5

A/N: I´m really sorry for the wait, but this term´s final exams demanded my attention. Hopefully I can go back to posting regularly now, but I can´t promise anything since there are still a few exams left.  
A/N2: Last but not least, thanks for the reviews, I hope you leave a few this time too.

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"_Watch me shine, as all the light closes down that's just a talent of mine…  
You know I die whenever I want, so go chase fortune when I'm gone…  
I'm guilty of reading my own past…_

_Don't forget if I don't live today, then I might be here tomorrow…"_

_If I Don't Live Today (Then I Might Be Here Tomorrow) by Mando Diao_

Chapter V

"How comes that you never told me that the profiler Kate Todd is Gibbs' girlfriend, Tony?" The Mossad officer asked out of the blue and looked over at her co-worker, impatiently waiting for an answer. The Italian knew that she would use her interrogation skills in case his answer wasn´t satisfying for her. "After all it isn´t the first time we work with her since I´m here."

"True, but I thought you noticed it. You are a trained investigator at last, not to forget a woman and as far as I know women know it when a couple is around. Once I was told women can interpret looks and touches, stuff like that, at the same time I was told that it´s called female intuition, Ziva…" Anthony explained and by his self-satisfied smile she could tell that he was enjoying every second of his predominance.

Right at that moment Ziva regretted that she asked DiNozzo and not Abby or McGee. Probably even asking Gibbs personally would have been easier, though she doubted that he would have really answered. He would rather block her question or say something mysterious, but both options were enough for her to tell that her suspicion was true. Now she had to endure Tony´s antics, but after a year of working with him she knew how to treat him.

"Come on there must be more to it, DiNozzo. You wouldn´t let me hear the end of it that I didn´t notice their relationship firsthand." She replied calmly a devious smile playing on her lips. "I rather think you are afraid that Gibbs catches you talking about it or no that´s too obvious, everyone is a little afraid of Gibbs, no, it is Kate whom you are afraid of."

Her grin widened while the Italian´s smile vanished as soon as it appeared just a few moments earlier. Tony knew he would lose if he backed down now. "Huh, no I´m not afraid of Kate and Gibbs is Gibbs, but afraid of Kate? Never ever in this life."

"Who is afraid of Kate?" Abby asked while she entered the bullpen with McGee in tow. Tony´s smile was back when he answered the black-haired forensic.

"Ziva thinks I´m afraid of Kate just because I didn´t tell her immediately that Kate is the boss´ girlfriend." The Italian replied and was now confident of his victory. Abby knew he was a good friend of Kate and for him this perfectly proved that he wasn´t the slightest bit afraid of Caitlin. "It is hilarious, isn´t it Abbs?"

"She often threatened to shot you, didn´t she Tony?"

"She said she was probably destined to shot Gibbs the first time she met him and now they are a happy couple." The field agent replied coolly and gave the Goth a mildly confused look. This was not good for him and most definitely heading into the wrong direction and he knew he had to do something. "So what was the reason why I should be afraid of Kate?"

"Yeah, but Kate would never shot Gibbs unless he did something really, really stupid what he won´t do, at least I pray to God he won´t. You on the other hand are a different story Tony-boy, for starters you aren´t her boyfriend and most important you often annoy her like hell. My advice to you is, don´t become reckless, ever." The forensic explained and grinned at the Italian who looked like a child whose favorite toy was just taken away from him.

"So why did you came up originally, Abbs?" The brown-haired man asked, switching the topic to a less embarrassing one for him.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. We were able to get the name of the juvenile criminal whose hair I found on Cody Baker´s clothes." Abigail stated and everyone was back into work-mood. "Where is Gibbs-Man by the way, do you already have the search warrant?"

"He wanted to get coffee and he should be back any minute now." David answered and the forensic nodded slowly.

"Timmy you can brief them, I want to go through Alexander Hodge´s stuff again. Maybe I find another hair that would be the ultimate forensic proof that we have a serial killer here and not a copy cat." McGee just nodded and the black-haired quickly went towards the elevator again, almost bumping into Jethro on her way. "Sorry Gibbs. Tim has the name to the hair I found."

The gray-haired man just nodded and went into the cubicle where his team was waiting for him. "What is his name, McGee?"

"The hair belongs to a Nathan Hayes, boss." The youngest agent started and a moment later the man´s dossier appeared on the big plasma screen. Tim waited until everyone could see the file before he went on. "He is now 38 and was registered because he was involved in some rows when he was sixteen. They made him do a few hours of community service in the local hospital and it looks like it helped. The file was closed since he was done with it."

Gibbs just nodded, noticing Anthony taking a close look at the photograph the file contained. "What is wrong, DiNozzo?"

"I think I know this man, boss. It must be him, his four-year-old son, I think his name was Sean, was killed in 1998. It was the last case I worked on in Baltimore before I came to NCIS and my first case which involved a dead child." The Italian answered slowly and suddenly he had everyone´s attention. This was one of the rare situations when Tony fully discarded his juvenile and at times only silly antics, switching completely to the mature special agent he was supposed to be. "Of course I don´t remember every detail of the case anymore, but I´m going to get the files from Baltimore PD. It shouldn´t be a problem and probably Kate can use the additional information too."

"That´s good, go get the files, DiNozzo, as soon as you have them go through the case again with Kate. McGee, Ziva find out where this Nathan Hayes is living at the moment." The gray-haired man ordered and the three younger agents scurried back to their desks to start working. After a moment of speaking into the receiver and some joking with an old partner Tony hung up and looked at his boss again.

"I have the files in about two hours. Alec Miller, my former partner, brings them personally." The senior agent said and finally sat down on his chair.

"Until he is here we go on checking the warehouses in the area." Jethro replied sternly and the younger man nodded, completely understanding why Gibbs wanted to be so thorough.

Every one of them knew that there were far too many buildings and that they were to spread over the city to go through all of them. In addition, searching them all would take weeks, time they didn´t have to waste when in approximately five days another boy would go missing. Afterwards he would be facing two weeks in captivity until the psycho would kill him.

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	7. Chapter 6

"_As they drown in the flood of the tears that have been wept,  
And their tongues being bitten, is all that I can hear,  
As I scream to the sky: I need you now...  
Can you feel this truth now unraveling?  
Or will you chase the burning sun into the sea…"_

_The Unraveling by Rise Against_

Chapter VI

"Nathan Hayes lives in Norfolk now, boss." Timothy spoke up and went on when he was sure that he had the gray-haired man´s attention. "He moved there from Baltimore in 2001 and he works in Norfolk General Hospital as a nurse ever since in addition, he never finished his studies to become a medical doctor. In his personnel file is also a remark that he was in psychotherapy after his son was killed, but he stopped seeing his doctor when he moved to Norfolk."

"I just received the search warrant Gibbs." The Israeli said sternly and the older investigator nodded, opening the drawer where he kept his service gun and badge. With swift moves he loaded his Sig and clipped it on his belt, standing up.

"Let´s go and see if Mr. Hayes has an alibi for the time the children were taken." Ziva and Tim nodded both grabbing their weapons and badges as well. The two agents went ahead towards the main elevator while Gibbs stayed behind and looked at Anthony who was still standing behind his desk a little unsure what to do now. "You stay here. When your partner arrives I want you to work with Kate on Hayes' profile. Maybe you can remember some things about his behavior which aren´t in the file and maybe your former partner can help too."

"Sure thing, boss." The Italian replied and watched the older man turn around, finally heading towards the elevator. Thoughtfully the agents held the elevator doors open so their boss didn´t need to wait for it.

Somehow the Italian looked forward to working with Caitlin again today he missed their bickering to be honest. Sure he had little fights with Ziva, but it just wasn´t the same. With Kate it had been just fun, he loved to tease her whenever he got the chance while he always felt the urge to prove Ziva wrong when she was trying to trick or simply to tease him. He had accepted it when the brunette won, but when his new co-worker won an argument he always felt the need to start another argument and win it so they were on an equal footing. Finally the Italian stood up to get some coffee for him and Kate he could as well wait upstairs and tease her a little before Alec arrived here.

"Hey Kate, I´ve got something for you." The dark-haired man said and the woman turned around, smiling when she saw the steaming cardboard cups on the tray the Italian was carrying. "My former partner should be here with the files any minute. McGee and Abby found out that the hair she found in Cody Baker´s clothes belongs to Nathan Hayes. His son was killed in 1998 and it was the last case I worked on in Baltimore before I came to NCIS."

"Well, that probably makes everything much easier especially that you know him personally can help. Though it was nine years ago you might remember more than you think." The brunette replied and the agent nodded, turning around when he heard someone saying his name.

"Hi Alec, I could say it´s nice to see you, but you know that would be a lie." DiNozzo greeted his fellow detective in a joking tone and the men hugged each other briefly before they looked at Caitlin again. "Detective Alec Miller, Baltimore PD this is special agent Kate Todd one of NCIS´s most skilled profilers."

"Kate is fine for me."

The detective smiled broadly at the brunette and they shook hands politely. Without really knowing him she thought he was rather likeable though he seemed to be a slightly older and more masculine version of Tony. Just like DiNozzo Alec was obviously a very humorous and thoroughly friendly person, somehow he reminded her a bit of Gerard Butler only with bright green eyes and pitch-black slightly tousled hair. "How about we start working now? Somehow I know the boss wants to know everything about Mr. Hayes before he interviews him."

"So, I´m dismissed? You don´t think you get rid of me that easy, right Anthony?" Miller asked dryly and grinned at his former co-worker. "My boss gave me the rest of the day off. I counted on one for the road before I leave. After all it has been years since the last time."

"Uh…" The Italian stuttered and scratched his neck, obviously searching for a suitable answer. "Well, my boss here is rather determined to close a case. As soon as possible, always and this most likely means long hours though nobody really likes it. I mean the time we spent at work of course, Gibbs is well… No offense, Kate."

"It is okay." The brunette replied curtly, the amusement about her former co-worker´s ranting evident on her face. Alec just smiled putting the pieces of their conversation together. "If you have time you could help us profiling Nathan Hayes, Tony told me that you worked on the case of his son too."

"Sure, I certainly won´t deny this offer, coming from a beautiful woman like you, agent Todd." Charming too, Caitlin thought and smiled at him while DiNozzo just frowned. He liked Alec too much to let him run into an open knife. Maybe he should tell him about Kate´s involvement with his boss just in case. "You are still with us, Anthony?"

The brown-haired man just nodded and tried to concentrate on Nathan Hayes again. The trio progressed rather quickly and when the brunette woman excused herself to the restroom Tony leaned over to his former partner. Miller already knew what the younger man was up to and let out a low chuckle, causing the NCIS agent to furrow a brow in question. "Maybe you think of me as an old man now, Tony, but most definitely I´m not dumb. Never was and hopefully I´ll never be. I figured that she is in a relationship with your boss when you apologized."

"Good…" DiNozzo mumbled and Alec nodded. "Then tell me why do I always get a picture of misery when I think of Nathan Hayes?"

"I would say simply because he was one in 1998, but on the other side who wouldn´t be? After all his son was killed by a highly neurotic person without any reason or any kind of warning." The black-haired detective stated and Tony couldn´t help but agree.

"And I think this is the reason why he kills the children now. He probably envies them for their life and becomes aggressive because it was taken from him so completely. After all he lives alone now, separated from his wife. You said he was in psychotherapy after Sean´s death which is normal, but he is on his own now and he obviously can´t deal with these feelings." The profiler explained after she came back into the room and paused for a moment. "Hayes isn´t able to reflect or cope with what happens to him, he just acts on impulse."

"Are you sure you don´t know him already, Kate?" Miller asked and the brunette nodded slowly. "You are right, Anthony. She is a skilled profiler, a highly skilled one I would say."

The Italian just smiled and nodded, completely agreeing with his old friend´s verdict. He always knew Caitlin was a damn good field agent, but it turned out that she was a great profiler as well, though she was still improving her work she could already impress them. "Well, I had some time to prepare the profile don´t forget about that, Alec."

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	8. Chapter 7

"_`Fools´ said I, `you do not know  
Silence like a cancer grows.  
Hear my words that I might teach you;  
Take my arms that I might reach you.´  
But my words like silent raindrops fell,  
and echoed in the wells of silence…"_

_The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel_

Chapter VII

Kate turned around and looked through the two-way mirror into the brightly lit interrogation room where Nathan Hayes was currently seated, impatiently waiting for Gibbs to come back and start with his questions. The man was still dressed in dark blue scrubs and she knew they must have gotten him either on his way to work or during his shift. While he let the man sweat in the small room Jethro used the time to get a quick briefing from Tony and Caitlin concerning the profile of their suspect. Like Alec the gray-haired man was quite impressed of what they found out and now the brunette wanted to see if she was right. Finally the door of the interrogation room opened and Gibbs walked in Tony in his wake.

"I really hope we can get done with this quickly, special agent Gibbs." Hayes stated and sounded just a little too confident for Kate to believe that he had indeed nothing to hide. Jethro deliberately wanted Tony to be present during the interview too maybe Hayes would crack or get nervous because he knew they knew everything about his past. But if he recognized the Italian, he was hiding or repressing any kind of reaction quite well.

"That depends on how cooperative you are, Mr. Hayes." The older man replied curtly and sat down, opening a file which contained only two pictures one of Alexander Hodge and another one of Cody Baker. "Do you know these boys?"

Not missing a beat Nathan shook his head and the profiler in the observation room could imagine her boyfriend´s frown too well. Hayes was answering way too quickly, it was contradicting to his cool and reserved appearance he was answering as fast as only a nervous person would do it. "No, I don´t know them. Why should I?"

"Is it possible that you treated them at the hospital?" DiNozzo asked calmly and Hayes looked at him, at that very moment completely oblivious to Gibbs' close scrutiny. Something flickered over his face, but he regained control quick enough that neither Kate nor Jethro could make out if it was recognition or pain or something similar to that. "They live on the Marine Base in Norfolk within a stone´s throw of the hospital where you work, but I´m sure you know that."

"It´s possible, I don´t remember every child I treated in the six years I work there. After all children often hurt themselves accidentally while they are playing outside." Nathan stated smiling and the Italian nodded, returning the smile.

"You seem to have experience with that, then?" The supervisory agent asked and the smile disappeared as soon as he ended the question.

Hayes broke the eye-contact with Tony and stared over Gibbs' shoulder into what looked for him like a mirror, giving Kate the perfect opportunity to study his expression. For a moment he seemed to drop his guard, but at the same time she could see that he tried to decide whether to tell them about his son or not. His gaze leaped back to Anthony for the fracture of a second and that was when the brunette knew that he had recognized the Italian.

"Well, mostly from work." He replied curtly and looked at his unmoving hands now, obviously to avoid looking at either one of the agents. The NCIS agents exchanged a quick glance and Jethro leaned towards the younger man in front of him, a subtle but still intimidating posture for most of the people who didn´t knew him. Nathan seemed to sense the investigator´s slight movement and looked up again, his face plain and lacking any kind of visible emotion. "Earlier you wanted to know where I was when the boys were taken, am I right? I was at work on both days and times you mentioned."

"Mr. Hayes you know that we´re able and are going to verify what you say, don´t you?" Anthony asked and Nathan nodded.

Somehow the female profiler was fascinated how fast the man could change from coy and reticent to cool and almost invincible, hence most of the time he was able to perfectly control how much of his real emotions he wanted to show. It was obvious that he had counted on them checking everything he said and this told Caitlin that he had everything well planned. Usually suspects freaked out now and admitted everything because they knew it was over, but Hayes was still self-confident, smiling at DiNozzo.

"Do whatever you like, I have nothing to hide." He stated curtly and only looked at Gibbs' again when he started speaking.

"Then you won´t mind if we check the medical files of the boys as well?" The older man asked icily, but Nathan was still smiling politely.

Caitlin knew that Jethro was annoyed by Hayes. Usually the people he interrogated would crack under the pressure he applied sooner or later, but not this time, not Hayes. Everyone knew Nathan was the killer after all Abby found his hair on Cody Baker´s clothes, but yet he had an airtight alibi and didn´t admit anything, nor let anything crucial slip.

"Of course not, like I said earlier it is possible that I treated one or both of them because I don´t remember all of my patients." Nathan Hayes repeated his earlier statement and the gray-haired man nodded slowly. "Are we done now? My shift started two hours ago and we´re one nurse short, while I´m here two."

"Sure, special agent DiNozzo will walk you to the door. Probably I have a few more questions later on, so stay in Norfolk where we can contact you." The former Marine said and Nathan got up, still smiling his hypocritical smile. Tony closed the door behind them and Gibbs slowly put the photographs back into the file, standing up after a moment. He met Kate in the hall, but didn´t look at her while he spoke. "He´s guilty, I know it when someone lies to my face. He killed the boys and we´re going to prove it no matter how."

If Caitlin had something to add to that she would have needed to call him back because he headed straight back into the bullpen while she went over to the elevator to get back into her own office. She knew what this determination meant he would be at home late and probably vanish into the basement for the whole night to get rid of his frustration. Maybe they would have some time to talk to each other in the morning if he didn´t leave earlier for work.

Kate felt like it was sophistry to think this way, but after all it hadn´t been just one single day which passed that way, it had been this way since she returned from Indiana and even before she left and slowly it was unnerving her. At the moment it seemed to her that she had foolishly believed that he had changed for the better during their relationship, but now he just closed off again and she felt like he was avoiding her. This was a feeling she didn´t like particularly because she rather felt like an intruder in the house than like the inhabitant she was.

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A/N: Merry Christmas to you and please review! =)


	9. Chapter 8

"_You're hiding from me now.__  
There's something in the way that you're talking,__  
Words don't sound right,__  
But I hear them all moving inside you.__  
Go now I'll be there when you call…"_

_Fall at Your Feet by Crowded House_

Chapter VIII

The brunette slowly opened the door leading to the basement and looked down into the dimly lit room. She heard Gibbs coming home two hours ago, but stayed upstairs hoping that he would find his way up to her. Earlier the day she had told Abby about her concerns needing giving in to the need to share her feelings with anybody. The fact that the forensic knew Jethro quite well for herself was a benefit for sure. Abigail told her that she had seen Gibbs' obsession with this case too and was definitely sharing the profiler's worries. Sure the gray-haired man could be well described as a pit-bull, but this case was getting to him just like the whole commotion surrounding Ari Haswari´s appearance did.

"Do you need anything, Jethro?" Caitlin asked and the older man barely acknowledged her presence. The only sign that he knew that she was there was the short glance he gave her.

"Nope…" He muttered rather to himself than really talking to her.

Expertly he changed the sandpaper going for a finer grain now to smooth out the wooden ribs of his boat even more. Gibbs could feel her gaze still lingering on his back and he knew that she was worrying about him, but he just couldn´t bring himself to talk to her. Neither was he able to tell her that he wanted to be alone at the moment, nor was he able to tell her what he felt while working on this particular case. At the same time he was painfully aware of the fact that he was driving her away, repeating a mistake he never wanted to make again in his life especially not with Kate.

A moment later he heard the soft thud of the basement's door being slid shut and paused for a moment. The sanding-block hovering barely an inch over the smooth wood, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and sighed heavily. "I´m truly sorry, Katie."

Another habit he wanted to leave behind. At work apologizing was a sign of weakness for him in private he knew it was necessary to apologize at times to maintain a healthy relationship. Despite this knowledge it had been always easier for him to offer an excuse to an empty room or a closed – slammed shut would suit most cases better – door than to the woman he should apologize to. A few minutes passed before Jethro was able to put the sanding-block away and climb the wooden stairs. He knew that even Caitlin's patience would be wearing off and he knew it would be soon, but he never thought that this point would be reached at the very moment she left the basement a few minutes ago when he was still unable to express himself. "Kate?"

He checked the kitchen and the living room on the ground level, but when he found all the rooms deserted he assumed that she was upstairs in the bedroom, trying to get some rest before she had to head to work tomorrow. Gibbs opened the door to their bedroom and went in, only slightly confused by the fact that it was dark too. "Are you already sleeping?"

The only answer the gray-haired man got was silence, but now he was at least assured that his girlfriend wasn´t here, she would have turned in her sleep or made a noise subconsciously responding to his question pr his presence. Jethro turned the small lamp on his nightstand on and found his suspicions confirmed. The bed was empty except for a small note placed on his pillow as if to make sure that he would find it. Slowly the NCIS agent sat down on the bed and carefully unfolded the paper, quickly taking in what he found written in Kate´s unique handwriting. When he was done he sighed and ran a hand over his face and through his hair. Eventually she would escape to Abby and he knew it deep down, but now when it actually happened he hated himself for letting it happen. He grabbed his cell phone and contemplated calling her, but deciding that he should probably give her some time he put the gadget away again.

"Sorry that I called on such short notice, Abbs." The brunette apologized and took another spoonful of their shared ice cream. After that exchange of words in the basement she just had to leave the house not able to stand the tense silence any longer. She knew Gibbs wasn´t the easiest man to be with, but she never thought he would be able to drive her away. "I really didn´t mean to ruin your evening with Tim."

"Don´t worry about it. I wanted to have a girl's night anyway, well under better circumstances." The forensic said and smiled sympathetically at her best friend. Kate would never say it, but Gibbs' indifferent behavior towards her stung deeply. They had spent enough time talking about Jethro and his moods in the past, but neither of them knew they would be in such a situation. "What about a movie? Tony recommended The Hangover lately. I know it might not fit the mood, but laughing is better than crying, right?"

The profiler nodded slowly and the Goth stood up to get the DVD, putting it into the player afterwards. While Abigail was preoccupied with the technical stuff Caitlin checked her cell one last time before she turned it off. Somehow she knew that Gibbs would try and call her sooner or later but for now she didn´t really want to talk to him. That could wait at least until tomorrow.

For once Anthony was right with a movie recommendation, the women were laughing at the top of their lungs for the time the flick was running. Even Kate who obviously came in a foul mood was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she wasn´t entirely convinced if it was only because of the movie. The forensic still couldn´t stop laughing and now five minutes after the movie ended it was just hilarious. "Okay, DiNozzo was right."

"Dang yes he was…" Abigail replied and still a short laughter was erupting from her throat every now and then until her features sobered, obviously remembering why her friend was actually here. "Didn't he call you yet?"

"Maybe he did, but I turned my cell off. He knows that I´m here, but he probably tried my cell first and got the message. At the moment I just can´t keep up with his mood and it´s possible that he realizes now that he has to open up." The brunette explained and the Goth nodded slowly. "At least I hope he does."

"Yeah that would be good. But I thought his caginess wasn´t an issue between you two." Abby stated and heard her friend sigh heavily.

"Until they got this case it wasn´t. I never thought it would get this hard. Don´t get me wrong I know why he acts the way he does, but still he won´t talk to me." Caitlin replied and her friend could hear the bitterness in her voice. She had been so glad when the two finally made their relationship public and she definitely didn´t want to witness when it failed.

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	10. Chapter 9

"_I could be cold,  
I could be ruthless…  
You know I could be just like you…"_

_Just Like You by Three Days Grace_

Chapter IX

"Yes, Nathan… Uh… nurse Hayes was on the same shift as I was. Exactly on the day you asked about and well, the time is obviously included in the time frame." The young woman explained hastily obviously more than just a bit intimidated by Gibbs glower.

Neither one of his three agents knew actually why he was in an exceedingly foul mood today they could only guess about the reasons. Tim and Tony had agreed that he must have been in a fight with Kate, since the brunette didn´t come down this morning to check on the progress they made on the case and Jethro´s behavior was far worse than his usual gloominess. Ziva on the other hand had simply shrugged it off as always avoiding it to take part in one of DiNozzo´s guessing-games concerning their boss' private life. To her it was like rifling through his stuff to get to know more about his private life which the older man always wanted to keep private even in front of his trusted team.

"So, did you see him on that particular time?" The gray-haired man asked sternly and the poor woman seemed to shrink even more under Gibbs' hard stare. She seemed to brace herself for anything at the moment, leaning as far away from the agent she could without actually stepping away from him.

"No… I didn´t, but honestly that is not too much of a surprise…" The nurse replied and Tony could swear that he caught a glimpse of plain fear on her features and to be honest he could understand her.

Today was one of the days he would go to a remarkable extent to please Gibbs and avoid provoking his wrath directing at him. It was tempting to go to the lab and ask Abby if she knew something and the Italian knew that the Goth would know something, but for now the Italian had to focus on work in order to stay on Jethro´s good side or well better side.

"Why not?" Jethro retorted and she winced slightly, not expecting that harsh tone.

"This is a rather huge hospital. I often see my co-workers only in the beginning and or in the end of a shift, not permanently. That is impossible." She explained, but trailed off. "But I can´t tell if he was here the whole time. It is possible that he left the hospital unseen nobody would bother to think about it. Nathan could as well accompany a patient to X-ray or something like that."

"Is there video surveillance on every exit?" The supervisory agent asked and the woman nodded, obviously seeing her chance to escape the grumpy man.

"You have to ask the security about that, but as far as I know there is a camera on every exit and in the stairwells of course."

Gibbs nodded yet not completely satisfied with her answers and when he turned to go she exhaled audibly, Tony couldn´t help but smile at that. He had often enough witnessed which effect this Leroy Jethro Gibbs could have on people, ranging from subtle manipulation and flirting to open aggression and pressure. "Go get the video tapes, DiNozzo. I have to call Abby, meet my by the car in ten and not a minute later."

"Sure, boss." The Italian replied and nodded, heading swiftly into the opposite direction.

He was pondering why Gibbs would call Abby now. Either it was for work related matters or about something private, probably concerning Kate, at that moment he knew he had to try and pry about some information from the forensic. If there was something bad going on between Gibbs and Kate she would be the first one to know most likely even before Ducky knew anything. Exactly ten minutes later DiNozzo strode towards the dark blue Dodge with the requested video tapes in hand. Gibbs was already sitting in the car the window rolled down obviously it was too hot inside the vehicle even for him, staring into space. When the younger man opened the passenger´s door the gray-haired man snapped back into reality and started the engine wordlessly.

"Take the tapes to Abby and tell her I´ll send McGee down to help her." Jethro ordered curtly and inwardly Tony was glad for the opportunity to talk to the forensic.

"Hey Abbs, I´ve got something for you." The Italian greeted cheerfully, but his grin faded when he sensed the mood in the lab. Kate was sitting with Abigail obviously the two were having lunch, but it wasn´t like all the other times he found them down here together. Both seemed to be rather depressed and it was evident that he interrupted a conversation. "I´ll just leave the tapes on the table. Oh and Gibbs is going to send McGee down here to help you. He wants to see whether Nathan Hayes left the hospital during his shift or not."

The black-haired forensic just nodded and the agent turned to leave, now sure that there was something up with Gibbs and Kate. Finally satisfied with that he boarded the elevator and started to build up possible scenarios, almost running into Tim who seemed to be as distracted as his co-worker was. "Hey, be more careful the next time McCareless."

McGee just shot him an annoyed glare and entered the metal cabin while Tony finally arrived in the bullpen where Ziva was sitting at her desk, but there was no sign of their boss. "Where is Gibbs?"

"Getting fresh coffee…" The Israeli replied in a slightly annoyed tone and Anthony sat down, busying himself with some of the old files on his desk.

All they could do for now was waiting for what Abby and McGee would or wouldn´t see on the tapes. If Hayes left the hospital at the right time, they could go find and arrest him immediately. If not they had to solve the mystery how his hair got to Cody Baker´s clothes and then find some other suspect.

The day passed rather slowly for Gibbs' team. In the lab Abby and Tim were watching the surveillance tapes from the hospital in Norfolk while Tony and Ziva were exposed to Jethro´s foul mood upstairs, waiting impatiently for the work hours to end. Both agents were sneaking a peek of their boss every now and then, trying to foresee any kind of possible outburst. For a short moment they were sure that the gray-haired man would snap at the young guy who was distributing the mail to them, but in the last moment Gibbs pulled himself together and grunted something inaudible while the man hurried out of the bullpen as fast as he could without actually running.

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A/N: This is the last one for this year and slightly shorter than the others but well had to be. Happy 2010! =)


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the long delay, but everything got super hectic with A-levels coming up and family issues, but finally I´m on holiday so I got to deal with my computer. I hope you enjoy this Chapter, though it is - well, you will see. Keep in mind it is necessary for the story. Take care!

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"_I remember the look in your eyes when I told you that this was goodbye…  
You were begging me not tonight, not here, not now…  
We're looking up at the same night sky and keep pretending the sun will not rise…  
Be together for one more night…"_

_Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard_

Chapter X

Gibbs opened the door and wasn´t really surprised that it wasn´t unlocked anymore. The older man inhaled deeply before he went into the house and wondered if Kate had cooled down after the last evening. He knew why she had fled to Abby and he also knew that he had to talk to her if he didn´t want to lose her, but still he wasn´t sure if he could. Neither did he know why he couldn´t talk to her after all she knew the real reason why this case bothered him so much. "Kate?"

"Living room." She called back curtly and he could tell by her tone that she wasn´t done with him just yet. The older man entered the room and found her on the two-seater, reading one of the profiler magazines she often brought home from work. He sat down beside her, but still keeping some distance between them, not completely sure if she wanted his proximity.

"Listen Katie, I´m sorry…" He stated before she could say anything and hoped that she would forgive him. In their two years of relationship they already had fights, but she had never spent a night at Abby´s this was a first but at the same time he was glad that she came back today.

"Sorry for… For what are you sorry?" Kate asked calmly and he had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. He knew that would provoke the opposite from what he really wanted. At the moment he felt like a child again who had to explain his mistakes to comprehend them. She was looking straight into his eyes, patiently waiting for an answer. Caitlin on the other hand knew that she had to force him into talking though she was sure that he meant his apology.

"Well, for being a bastard, maybe?" Jethro asked, being perfectly aware of what he was doing. He loved her with all his heart, but when he was forced to talk his guard went up immediately. A protective mechanism he had acquired and brought to perfection over the years, he thought he was able to drop it while being with Kate, but it was rooted deeply in his soul. "Or for not talking to you, the decision is up to you."

"Gibbs…" She said unconsciously calling him by his last name, producing a distance between them now not only physical but as well as mentally. "Don´t go there."

The agent could see the plea in her dark brown eyes, but his own glance hardened nevertheless. He was literally torn between giving in to her unspoken plea and standing up to vanish into his basement to enjoy the blissful oblivion down there. His mind was already crying out loud to just leave, but his heart was still stronger, telling him to stay right where he was. "Why not go there, Kate? After all you already stayed at Abby´s for the night."

The plea vanished from her eyes and at the same time her eyes went opaque. The gray-haired man knew perfectly well that he just crossed a line, now they were past the point of no return. The air around them thickened and he was waiting for her to respond in any way, a part of him was still hoping against all better knowledge that she would just ignore his latest comment. "Yeah think about the reason. I just needed someone to talk to and since you couldn´t or wouldn´t do it I felt like I had to leave."

"I think I get your point." The investigator stated dryly and his attitude enraged her even more. Deep down he knew that this was a tightrope walk, desperately trying to balance to avoid falling down. "Okay, so I´m sorry for not talking to you, honestly Kate, but what do you want to hear? You can´t be really interested to listen to my ramblings about pain, past and present."

"Why are you so god damn sure that I´m not? After all I listened when you told me about Shannon and Kelly when I could have easily said that I didn´t want to hear it. I moved in with you shortly afterwards and got along with all your moods only to find out that you are still not able to trust me completely?" The brunette asked and the disappointment as well as the hurt was evident in her voice. "I´m sorry, but I can´t live with that…"

"You were always free to leave. I never wanted you to leave, but if you wanted to I would surely be the last one to hold you back." At the moment Caitlin was too preoccupied with Jethro´s first sentence to catch the implied declaration of his love. She couldn´t see that he loved her too much to hurt her, she felt only the sting that he wouldn´t mind if she left. Tears sprang to her eyes and she willed them to stay there, usually she could survive fights with Gibbs without shedding a single tear, but today seemed to be different. This was her very own state of emergency.

"Do you want me to leave now?" The profiler asked staring out of the window bleary-eyed. She couldn´t bring herself to look into his eyes at the moment because she was afraid of what she would see there. Probably resentment or anger directed at her and she knew she wouldn´t be able to stand that.

"When this is what you actually want then yes…" The gray-haired man replied honestly, not wasting a second to think about how wrong this could sound. At the moment he didn´t really care about considering misunderstandings or implied meanings he was following his instincts now, eager to sacrifice his own luck for Kate´s. "If not then no."

The female profiler contemplated his answer for a moment finally shaking her head. This was heading in the wrong direction, but right now she couldn´t think of a solution, blinded by anger and disappointment mixed with other emotions. "It was a question I wanted you to answer with simply yes or no, but well I´ll just take it as yes and leave as you wish."

She didn´t miss a beat before she stood up and strode towards the front door. Gibbs heard the rattling of keys, but it was the slam of the closing door that pulled him out of his reverie. It dawned to him that he had done it once again he had driven a woman away from him. The only difference to his ex-wives was that he truly loved her with all his heart and soul. He still hoped that she felt the same, but he knew that he had effectively destroyed any kind of hope for them with his unique stubbornness.

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	12. Chapter 11

"_How did we get here when I used to know you so well?  
__How did we get here?  
__Well, I think I know.  
__The truth is hiding in your eyes and it's hanging on your tongue,  
__Just boiling in my blood, but you think that I can't see…"_

_Decode by Paramore_

Chapter XI

A week had passed since he had seen Kate for the last time. The only sign that she had entered the house during that time was that more of her things were gone, clothes, toiletries and other personal belongings and he was sure that they were now in Abby´s apartment where she was staying. At work it was easy not to see each other since they didn´t need her help one the case anymore. They had Nathan Hayes' profile and now they just needed to find him. As soon as he heard that they showed up at the hospital, demanding the surveillance tapes he had vanished into thin air. He hadn´t entered the hospital for a week now and two agents were staking his flat in Norfolk in addition, every LEO in the area received a BOLO for Hayes. Nobody could give them a hint where he could be and Tony was trying to reach Hayes' ex-wife for some days now to see if she could help them, but she was on a holiday due to return the next day.

He knew his agents were wondering what was going on with him and Kate, though he assumed that Tony and Tim already knew what happened, the latter most likely because he was still involved with the forensic. Ducky heard everything from him after all he was one of his closest friends for some years now, but still he couldn´t bring himself to tell him about Shannon and Kelly. It looked like Caitlin would remain the only one who knew for some time. Since she had left the house he had spent most of the nights in the basement working on his boat, attempting to drown his sorrow in bourbon and staring at his cell phone, trying to decide whether he should call her or just leave her be. Until now his mind always won the debate reasoning with him that it was a lost battle. Maybe she still loved him, but he was positive that he had hurt her too much that she would ever give him a second chance just in case he could grab his cell and finally call her.

"At least there is some progress here…" The gray-haired man mumbled and grabbed another wooden beam to complete the hull of his boat.

He could start with the deck in some time, but first he would have to remove the hull and put it into the garage, chuckling bitterly at a memory of one of the first times Kate had seen his boat. Like most of the few people who actually got to see his boat she had asked how he would get it out of the basement when he finished it. Jethro had grinned and told her that she would have to wait and see. She had just nodded and happily agreed to wait for that though Gibbs hadn´t much time to work on the boat two and a half years ago. When she had moved in with him it had been different. While she read or sketched, sitting on the sofa they brought down here he was working here. He threw the two-seater which was covered with sawdust a noxious glare for reminding him of what was lost now and sipped his bourbon before he concentrated on the beam again.

On the other side of Washington Kate woke up, startled by the high-pitched laugh of Abby´s witch-shaped alarm clock next door. The brunette groaned and hoped that she would either find an own apartment in near future or secretly get rid of the alarm bell. After the forensic punched the witch Caitlin could hear rattling and finally Abigail´s footfalls muffled by the thick carpet. She knew she would have to get up now and face anything what the day could possibly bring. Both had a day off –Abby had insisted on accompanying her friend to her appointment – to see Kate´s gynecologist. Her period was overdue, but she had blamed stress for it with Gibbs, at work and finding a suitable and affordable apartment soon. Until she had started to feel sick in the morning she had denied the possibility telling Abby over and over again that they always took precautions. Finally she got up and went into the kitchen where the Goth was already preparing breakfast.

"Morning, Kate." Abby greeted cheerfully, but soon recognized her friends´ thoughtful expression. "Are you ready for today?"

"As ready as I can be I suppose." The profiler replied and grabbed the orange juice to fill their glasses, questioning herself if she could get ready for what the doctor might tell her later. This was probably the worst what could happen, finding out that she was pregnant just a little over a week after she broke up with her boyfriend slash father of her future child. She had always wanted children, though it was tough she had liked growing up with four siblings, but she wanted a father for her children a real family, not only a mother and her child.

"Everything will be fine, Kate, no matter what happens later." The Goth tried to reassure her friend and Kate couldn´t help but give her a small smile. Did she really deserve such a great friend like Abby was and what would she do without her? A few hours later the two women were sitting in the waiting room again, waiting for the results of Kate´s blood test.

"I should have tested you myself…" The forensic mumbled and tried desperately to maintain a neutral expression, her Goth appearance already got her enough strange looks and a gloomy facial expression wouldn´t help much to change that. "Would have been way faster… All this waiting around is driving me nuts…"

Caitlin let out a small chuckle and nodded. "But we would have needed to ask Ducky to take a blood sample from me and that would have drawn unwanted attention on me."

"Okay your point." The forensic replied smiling and a moment later Kate was called back into the doctor´s office because they were done. She shut the door behind her and when the doctor was already smiling broadly at her she knew the answer. To solve that puzzle she didn´t even need to be a trained profiler, anyone would have been able to tell.

"Congratulations Ms Todd you are seven weeks pregnant, hence you can expect your baby in late February next year." The female doctor stated obviously a little amused about Kate´s stunned expression.

She had seen that reaction quite often, but knew in ninety percent of all cases it would quickly change into a smile, the latest after the first ultrasound. Caitlin laid down too and the doctor showed her everything on the monitor, telling her that everything was perfectly fine after the first eight weeks of her pregnancy. Outside Abby was waiting impatiently for her friend and when she saw Kate coming out, carrying a small piece of paper and a container with prenatal drugs she broke out in a huge smile. The brunette just nodded and smiled too. She had decided that she wanted this baby despite everything what happened, after all she loved Gibbs and this was the most precious gift he could give her.

"Oh, that is great." The forensic squealed and looked at the ultrasound picture, squinting her eyes to make out anything what could remind her of the presence of a baby, but frowned. "Okay, but you have to show me where exactly your kid is pictured here."

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	13. Chapter 12

"_Come break this skin __I'll let you sink right in…  
And show you everything, see you in hell…  
__We'll gather around the fire a__nd I don't need the choir  
Sing farewell, see you in hell…"_

_Hell by Foo Fighters_

Chapter XII

"Boss, Norfolk PD just called they got a hint where Hayes is." Anthony stated and the whole team was on alert, grabbing their badges and weapons to head out. Five days ago four-year-old Ben Simmons was taken from a friend´s backyard, while his parents where in the living room and named friend on a quick detour for the bathroom. When the team heard about the abduction it felt like Nathan Hayes was laughing in their faces, literally ridiculing them. Gibbs was fuming just like the rest of his agents and they moved the investigation into high gear again, desperately trying to find the boy before it was too late.

"Where exactly do they think he is?" The gray-haired man asked curtly while they were already boarding the elevator.

"They think in the old business district in northern Norfolk." The Italian replied just as curt and Gibbs nodded, mapping out the route in his mind. A few minutes later the four were seated in the dark blue service car and speeding down south. McGee was just glad that they didn´t take the truck because then he would be the one tumbling around in the back. Two and a half hours later they found the right block, two police cars already parking a few feet away.

"Special agent Gibbs I suppose?" The officer asked and Jethro just nodded, putting on a Kevlar vest just like his agents. "I am officer Mills. Well, we found his car behind the building until now it is the only sign that he is here. I just got the plan for this building and there is a basement so we assume that he is down there."

"We are eight so there shouldn´t be a problem in securing all the exits of the basement." The NCIS agent stated and the other seven nodded. Not even the police officers were questioning Jethro´s authority. Barely a minute later the group formed teams of two and were quietly heading for the doors. Tony and Gibbs were in the basement a minute later, hearing the others clearing different rooms and areas over their radios. They were progressing through the basement rather quickly when they found a lit hall. Anthony briefly told the others were they where, always keeping an eye on his surroundings. Nevertheless he just saw Hayes too late.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Gibbs was going down and it seemed like an eternity passed before the NCIS agent could locate the killer in the dark corridor they didn´t secure yet. In one swift motion he was around the nearest corner, seeking shelter from the random shots Hayes was firing in his direction. He waited a few seconds and peeked around the corner, but Nathan was still aiming at him. More shots rang out until everything was silent the fracture of a second later. The agent looked around his cover and saw Mills and Ziva hovering over an unconscious Gibbs. Only when he was within reaching distance he saw the blood pooling around Jethro's middle. The Israeli was applying pressure on the wound on his left side with her bare hands while one of the officers was on the phone, calling an ambulance. Mills bound another wound on his thigh and DiNozzo just ran a hand through his hair before he actually looked for Hayes. Timothy was handcuffing him already while one of the other police officers picked up Nathan's gun.

"Where is the boy, Hayes?" The Italian asked in a dangerously low voice and the other man just glared at him, finally grinning madly.

"Go ahead he is just down the hall." Nathan answered obviously not caring anymore what would happen to him now.

"Will, go and accompany agent DiNozzo to find the kid, Paul get out and show the EMTs where we are." Mills ordered the in a sharp voice and Tony started towards the only the door they could see from where they were just a few feet ahead of them. Will was following suit, both had their guns still drawn in case Hayes had an accomplice nobody knew about yet. Finally the two reached the door and Anthony carefully opened it, looking in.

"Ben, are you there?" The Italian asked in a soft voice and tried to make out anything in the pitch black darkness. He heard someone standing up in the far corner of the room and opened the door wider. "Hey Ben, I am Tony. I am with the police and I´m going to bring you back to your mommy and daddy you just need to come out."

A moment later the blond boy was hesitantly walking towards them. "Are mommy and daddy here?"

"Not yet, but they will be soon. First we´ll get you out of here and then you can call them, okay?" Anthony asked and the child nodded, letting the Italian pick him up and carry him out of the building. Outside the ambulance just arrived and Paul was leading the EMTs back into the warehouse to take care of Gibbs. McGee and the other police officer were standing in front of the police car in which Hayes was sitting, staring into space. The Italian focused on the boy he was carrying again and gave him an once-over for any visible injuries. "Are you hurt, Ben?"

The four-year-old shook his head slowly before he looked up at the NCIS agent. "Can I call my mommy now, Tony?"

"Sure, Ben." The Italian replied smiling and fetched his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing Rachel Simmons number before he handed the gadget to the four-year-old. At least the boy was fine, but the EMTs were still inside the building, treating his boss and of course he was worried about the older man. He couldn´t decide whether this was a good or a bad sign since it could either mean that they couldn´t control the bleeding yet or there was no need to hurry anymore. The younger man shuddered and let the child down, letting him sit into the dark blue Dodge. He didn´t really notice that he was staring at the door until Ben tugged on his sleeve and handed him his phone, recognizing that Rachel Simmons was still on the line. "Yes, special agent DiNozzo speaking."

He only half listened to the woman expressing her gratitude that they found her child unharmed, but he was too affixed on staring at the empty doorway, waiting for the others to come out. In his peripheral vision he could see Timothy coming over to him, smiling at Ben before his face turned serious again. "Yes, we´ll take him to hospital to check if he has any kind of physical injuries and you can meet us there. Surely you can take him home afterwards. Bye."

The agent closed the cell phone and quickly glanced at his co-worker, finding his own concerns mirrored in the younger man´s face. "Do you think we should call, Kate?"

"Yes, it is better if she hears it from one of us. The hospital would call her anyway whatever is going on between them at the moment she is still his next of kin I guess. Ben, are you okay with staying with Tim?" The Italian asked calmly and opened his cell again, hitting one of the speed dial buttons when the child nodded. He waited a few moments and when his former co-worker accepted the call he went some steps away from the building, leaving McGee with the four-year-old in the car.

"Who is Kate, Tim?" Ben asked and the agent needed a moment to decide what he could and would tell the child.

"She is our friend and Tony promised to call her." He explained curtly and the boy seemed to be satisfied with the answer for the moment. At last he didn´t ask further questions, Tim was sure that he wasn´t in shock either, more just waiting to go finally home.

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	14. Chapter 13

"_Can you hear me cry out to you?  
Words I thought I'd choke on figure out.  
I'm really not so with yo__u anymore.  
I'm just a ghost…  
So I can't hurt you anymore, so I can't hurt you anymore…"_

_This Is How I Disappear by My Chemical Romance_

Chapter XIII

"Hey Tony do you have any news yet?" Caitlin asked and hastily entered the waiting room with Ducky and Abby in tow.

Both had insisted to accompany her, the forensic because she was hesitant to leave her best friend alone with everything and the older man just because he wanted to be there for his best friend. Though Gibbs told him what happened between him and Kate he was glad to see that she didn´t hesitate long before she left Washington to visit the gray-haired man. By her reaction the medical examiner could tell that she still loved him and there were unresolved things. She suffered obviously as much as Jethro did, but Duck sensed that there was more than just the end of their relationship.

"No, he is still in surgery to remove the bullets and stop the internal bleeding." The Italian explained and the brunette nodded, sitting down next to her former co-worker. "But they wouldn´t tell us anything anyway because you are his next of kin and not one of us."

"Okay where Tim and Ziva?" The forensic asked, sensing her friend´s uneasiness about the topic of her unsolved relationship.

DiNozzo looked at the black-haired woman, frowning lightly at the sudden intervention. "They went back to Washington to take care of Hayes."

He deliberately spared the information that Ziva also had to change her clothes because they were stained with Gibbs' blood. The group lapsed into a thoughtful silence until they saw a man dressed green scrubs approaching them with quick strides. "I suppose you are waiting for information of special agent Gibbs' condition?"

The four NCIS employees nodded and the doctor smiled sympathetically. "I´m doctor Griffin. Alright, the gunshot wound on his thigh wasn´t too bad. It missed all major blood vessels and should heal completely. In addition we were able to remove the bullet so there shouldn´t be any problems. The wound in his torso was more concerning. Luckily it missed major vessels and his vital parts, only his spleen was severely affected. Nevertheless we were able to stop the bleeding, but he lost a huge amount of blood and we had to use transfusions to avoid shock. Currently the nurse is preparing him to go to ICU, if you wish you can see him as soon as everything is settled, but only one at a time and not for too long. It will also take some more time until he wakes up because the sedation we gave is wearing off rather slow."

"Thank you, doctor." The brunette said in a quiet voice and gave the other man a small smile while hot tears brimming her eyes. Griffin just nodded and started to turn around, but stopped suddenly, looking at Kate.

"I will send a nurse to lead you to his room as soon as everything is prepared." Caitlin nodded slowly and sat down again thankfully looking at Abby who squeezed her hand. The group lapsed into a thoughtful silence again and they waited for about twenty minutes before a young woman walked towards them asking for Kate to bring her to Jethro´s room. Upstairs the nurse helped the brunette into a pair of fresh scrubs and pointed towards the gray-haired man´s room.

Caitlin closed the door behind her carefully to avoid any kind of sound except for the steady beep of the heart monitor. She went over to the bed and sighed when she saw Gibbs attached to several machines through different wires and tubes. Just glad that he only had a nasal cannula to help him breath she grabbed his limp hand, smoothing his fingers around her smaller hand. Still she was fighting the tears which were threatening to fall, by now she already forgot about their fight. Only he and their baby were on her mind and that he just couldn´t leave her completely now. "You have to recover Jethro, I… We all need you. You know that right?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them because she felt his fingers twitch around her hand, followed by an almost inaudible croak. "Katie?"

"I´m here Jethro and I won´t leave anytime soon, go back to sleep now. You were shot twice, but the boy is safe." She explained, knowing that he would exactly want to know what happened. His eyes were still closed and she knew he was probably already drifting off again. A long beat passed before he gained the strength to speak up again, but still it was barely more than a whisper.

"I´m sorry…" The gray-haired man croaked and the tears were freely running down her cheeks now. She didn´t know if it was because of all the different hormones flowing through her system or just because she was so happy that he was talking to her, though it were only a few words and barely comprehensible. "I love you, Katie…"

"I love you too, Jethro, but you really have to go back to sleep now." She insisted and had to smile through her tears.

It looked like he just had to tell her, she could tell by the creases on his forehead that talking was a highly strenuous activity for him at the moment. After he heard her answer his facial features softened and she could hear his breath evening out again. She knew eventually she had to tell him about the baby, but that would have to wait until he gained some of his old strength again. For now she could just sit beside him and hold his hand until a nurse would ask her to leave, giving her a sympathetic smile and telling her that they would take good care of him. The brunette took one look at him and wiped the tear streaks off her cheeks before she went back into the waiting room where the others were still waiting impatiently.

"How is Jethro doing?" Donald asked though he knew that Kate didn´t have the medical knowledge to read the monitors in Gibbs' room.

"He will be fine in some time. Like the doctor said he is still sleeping off the medication." The profiler explained curtly and everyone sighed in relief. Anthony excused himself to call Tim and update him about their boss' condition, getting an update on Hayes in return while Duck left to find the doctor and get insight into Jethro´s charts and report of the surgery.

"You sound quite sure." The Goth stated and the brunette nodded, smiling lightly.

"Actually he was awake for a few seconds and well he just has to recover." The brunette replied and rested a hand on her still flat stomach. Abigail couldn´t help but smile too and hoped that everything would be fine eventually. Not only that Gibbs wounds would heal, but also that they would be able to start all over, happy to have their baby in a few months.

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	15. Chapter 14

"_You could stay and watch me fall…  
And of course I'll ask for help  
Just stay with me now…"_

_I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes) by The Used_

Chapter XIV

For two weeks Gibbs was forced to stay in Norfolk, driving the hospital staff – including the doctors – literally nuts with his antics. On top of his list was complaining about the liquid diet Griffin put him on and when he was slowly going back to normal food, he was of course complaining about the dishwater they called coffee. Finally the gray-haired man had told all his visitors to bring real coffee with them when they came, the nurses noticed it soon, but were overlooking it hoping that it would soothe their cranky patient. Another thing they recognized was that he was more at ease when he knew that a certain brunette was coming to visit, which happened to their luck almost every day. As soon as the two weeks, Griffin referred to when Gibbs asked the first time how long he had to stay, were up the gray-haired man demanded the forms to check out. By now the team was working real cases again and Kate agreed to pick him up.

He was quite relieved to see that she had moved back into the house, all her stuff back in the rightful places. Just like she was back where she belonged at least in his opinion, once again he wondered how she could accept him the way he was. As soon as he felt well enough he wanted to sort things out with her and discovered that Kate was more than happy to listen to him. Jethro knew that this was probably his second and at the same time the last chance she would give him, and he would rather be damned to let it pass. Though he felt good he was still off duty, enduring the tedium of being at home all day long was quitt a difficult task. He was always looking forward to 1700 when Caitlin's work hours ended and it meant that she would be home roughly half an hour later. Today the older man was wavering between looking forward and being a little anxious, he had dropped her purse by accident and when a small piece of paper fell out he didn´t think anything of it. But only until he turned it around and saw that it was an ultrasound picture, three weeks old and with Kate´s name on it.

He was trying to visualize the brunette in his mind to see if he missed any changes concerning her slender figure. There was a slight thickening around her waist, but it wasn´t distinct enough to be recognized right away. All these thoughts had distracted him from the boredom for the whole day and he was still staring at the picture, completely overhearing the younger woman entering the house and calling his name until the brunette was standing in front of him.

"Are you okay? Did some of the stitches reopen?" The gray-haired man finally looked up at her and shook his head, making her frown. When the profiler relaxed a little she noticed the paper he was holding in his hands and came closer, only to have her suspicion that it was her ultrasound picture confirmed. "Oh."

"Since when do you know it?" The older man asked in a sober tone and carefully put the paper on the kitchen table, smoothing it out.

"I saw my doctor and had it confirmed just the day before you were shot." Kate explained and sat down beside her boyfriend, trying to read his emotions in his face or eyes. She was always taken aback by the fact that he could make his face unreadable even for her if he wanted to, despite her extensive profiler training. "I didn´t tell you yet because there were so many other things we had to deal with first… Your injuries and well…"

While she explained her behavior she had narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the wooden tabletop. Gibbs reached over and slowly lifted her chin with two fingers, making her look at him again. By now he was smiling broadly, letting her finally see what he really felt and thought about the latest news. "I know, Katie after all everything was my fault… You don´t need to explain why you didn´t tell me yet, okay? I don´t care when you wanted to tell me about the baby, all I care about is that you are here and that I know now."

The brunette smiled back at her boyfriend and his hand moved to cup her cheek. His blue eyes were twinkling with happiness and it felt like a burden she didn´t know she was carrying was lifted off her shoulders. "So you are happy to have the baby?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I am." The silver-haired man replied and Caitlin leaned in for a deep kiss. His injuries were still restricting him from particular movements and activities, such as leaning over or working on his boat something what was adding up to his boring day at home. "So, how far along are you and more important how are you feeling?"

"I´m ten weeks along and until now everything is perfectly fine." The profiler said now relatively calm and glanced at the ultrasound picture. Eventually everything would turn out well in the end for them just like she thought when she met Abby in the waiting room again. "I feel fine by now, I´m just glad the morning sickness passed relatively soon. This was also the indicator for Abby to finally drag me to the doctor and have everything checked."

Gibbs had to chuckle at the thought of the Goth waiting with Kate in the doctor´s office, they must have gotten some strange glances while they were there. The gray-haired man made a mental note to thank Abigail for taking care of the brunette when he couldn´t because of his stubbornness and injuries. For the fracture of a second he thought about proposing, after all she and their unborn child meant everything to him on this world, but when that moment passed he dismissed the thought. She would most likely think that he felt obliged to do it because she just told him that she was expecting his child. No, that wasn´t the right thing to do, he would ask her someday, but most definitely not at the moment or tomorrow.

A/N: I´m so sorry again for not posting so long, but well my computer broke down once again and I had no access to my stories. Anyways, there are two more Chapters and then there is the Epilogue already coming up. So I guess this story is finished by the end of the week.


	16. Chapter 15

"_The world has its ways to quiet us down…  
The world has its ways to quiet us down comes the rain…  
Down comes our spirits again, but Down comes the strength,  
To lift us up and then..."_

_Losing Keys by Jack Johnson_

Chapter XV

Gibbs blew the sawdust off the beam he was sanding and glanced at his brunette girlfriend who was sitting on the two-seater with a thin blanket loosely draped around her shoulders while she was accurately sketching something. Though it was summer she was getting cold when she was with him downstairs in the basement. To him it was utterly amazing what changes took place in the last two months. By now he had almost completely recovered from the two gunshot wounds and was slowly getting used to the two new scars on his battered body while Kate´s stomach was bulging visibly now. He had waited for the baby finally start to show that he was growing and now he simply couldn´t resist touching her tummy all the time. By the soft smiles she gave him he could tell that she was truly happy about his many endearments.

"What do you think about Noah as his first name?" She asked out of the blue and met his eyes. Gibbs thought about her suggestion for a moment and finally smiled.

"Yes, I really like the name." The gray-haired man replied and the brunette returned his smile. They had been thinking about names before, but that had been more like creating a pool of names for girls and boys. Earlier today they found out that they were having a boy, both agreed that they wanted to know the sex before the baby was born. Now Kate sounded more definite, but he was fine with it. "If we also pick a middle name, I´m definitely against hyphenating that would be cruel."

The brunette chuckled and nodded slowly. She was glad that he mentioned it since she had already thought of a middle name and found the perfect one at least she thought it was perfect now he only had to agree. "Yes, definitely no hyphen, but I would say we pick a middle name. Both of us have one and in my family it is kind of a tradition. It is also a tradition to give our kids an Irish first or middle name."

"Fine with me, as long he won´t be picked on because of the name." He replied and grinned cheekily at his girlfriend. Kate got his joke and rolled her eyes, mocking a slightly sour expression. "I´m just saying, don´t get me wrong, I like most of the names but I won´t call my son Rafferty, not even as a middle name."

Chuckling Kate shrugged and leaned her sketchpad against her knees. "It´s not that my brother could help it and well our uncle Rafferty was his godfather. Personally I think my parents were plainly running out of names after having three boys and Paddy was on the receiving end, I mean like every second Irishman is called Patrick as a first or middle name. Not that it is different with Brian, but a traditional Irish name would confuse most Americans."

"Well, the only Irish names I know are the ones of your family members." The older man stated and put the sanding block on the workbench, walking over to the other side of the wooden platform. He caught a glimpse of what she was sketching and smiled again. How often had he seen her sketching him, but he was always amazed at how precisely she did it. "Somehow you sound that you already thought of a middle name."

The brunette put her sketchpad on the concrete ground, turning around to fully face her boyfriend. It was part of her plan that he would think that and she smiled satisfied, just hoping that he would like her idea. "You are right as always, Jet."

"Well, it was kind of obvious, so?" The gray-haired man replied, his impatience striking through now something what didn´t happen very often when they were at home.

"Okay, I was looking for an Irish name like I told you and I found one which would perfectly go with Noah and his last name, but if you don´t like it we can always look for another second name." She paused for a short moment and could tell that the older man´s patience was wearing thin. "Well, I came across Kellan and I thought it would fit…"

"Noah Kellan Todd or Noah Kellan Gibbs." The gray-haired man repeated the full name and contemplated her suggestion for a moment. He didn´t hear the brunette inhaling deeply, unsure what to think about his reaction. A few more seconds passed and finally Gibbs walked over, sitting down next to her on the sofa. He laid his hand flat on her bulging stomach and softly caressed the baby bump, feeling her relax under his gentle touch. "You are right, Katie, it is perfect…"

"For a moment I thought you wouldn´t like it." She stated and exhaled audibly, smiling. "It is obviously the male version of Kelly and well, she is a huge part of your past – well she is a part of your life still, so I thought it would be nice to honor her that way."

"It is." The NCIS agent said simply and smiled, stroking her belly. Still he couldn´t believe that he almost lost her and their son only because of his darn stubbornness. If he had already known that she was pregnant he surely would have behaved different, but he promised himself that he would never do this again. He just needed her in his life to be happy and to survive the day because he could look forward to coming home. Too long he had spent lonely nights in the basement, having an occasional lady visitor over, but now he had Kate and he wouldn´t trade her for the world. "But it is also our secret for now, right?"

"Yes." The brunette replied simply and felt the baby kick right were Gibbs´ hand was. When he smiled happily she knew that he felt it too. Caitlin knew that he always hoped to witness such a moment and was glad that their son unknowledgeable satisfied his daddy´s wish for now. Sometimes she found herself wondering what the boy would be like, only to think that he would be quite stubborn and hopefully have Jethro´s blue eyes.


	17. Chapter 16

"_Forever, forever I'll walk a thousand miles,  
__To tell her, to tell her our love is still alive.  
__And I'll never, I'll never, I'll never let it die.  
__Well, you'd better watch your step,  
__She's a diamond on a landmine…"_

_Diamond on a Landmine by Billy Talent_

Chapter XVI

Gibbs silently closed the door behind him and looked down into the scrunched up face of his newborn son. Kate fell asleep shortly after she fed the small boy for the first time and the older man decided to go and update his team while she rested, after all he knew Abby had dragged them with her to the hospital and made them wait with her after the brunette called her a few hours ago. Now he was holding the baby everyone waited for so long, but Jethro was still unsure whether he looked more like Kate or himself. No doubt these were his blue eyes looking up at him and the infant already had a bunch of thick reddish brown hair on his head definitely from Caitlin, smiling the investigator entered the waiting room. His smile grew even wider by the display he saw, Abby´s head was on Timothy´s shoulder, both sound asleep. Tony was sleeping as well occupying four seats while Ziva had her knees folded under her and her head was resting against the wall. All this reminded the agent that it was four in the morning and they must have been here for about five hours now. Only Duck was still awake, reading one of the magazines which were scattered on the table. The medical examiner smiled and stood up, walking towards his friend.

"Congratulations, Jethro how is Caitlin doing now?" The medical examiner asked in a low voice to avoid waking the other team members before he finally took a closer look at the newborn child. "No doubt he inherited your eyes."

"Yeah he definitely did." The silver-haired man replied and smiled proudly. "Kate is sleeping right now, but everything went just fine."

Donald nodded slowly, feeling glad that the two made it to this point since everyone had been anxious that they would really separate. The baby let out a soft sigh before he closed his eyes, hiding the azure color of his eyes. A few feet ahead the forensic stirred, forcing her eyes open. As soon as she was able to comprehend what she saw in front of her, the Goth was on her feet and rushed over to catch a glimpse of the infant before anyone would want to see the baby. "Congratulations Gibbs-Man! Cute little Gibblet you have there… Really, how is Kate? Can I see her? Hey Noah I´m your cool godmother Abby…"

The forensic also kept her voice low, but only because she didn´t want to wake the sleeping boy. Jethro couldn´t help but smile at the Goth´s ranting and decided to ask her later about the nickname `Gibblet´ for his son, before he answered. "She´s sleeping right now, Abbs, but I´m sure she would also like to see her later."

By now also the other three team members were wide awake, slowly coming over to congratulate their boss and take a look at the tiny boy he was holding safely in his arms. "Congratulations, boss. How is Kate doing?"

"Thanks, DiNozzo. Good, she is sleeping and so I thought it would be a good time to show my son off." The gray-haired man replied and the Italian nodded, carefully pushing Abigail aside and she shot him a nasty glare, but moved nevertheless while also Tim and Ziva congratulating their boss. After a few minutes of a little joking and talking Noah let out a soft cry. Everyone shut up immediately, but the baby continued fussing and the supervisory agent excused himself to go back into Caitlin´s room. The team stayed for another few minutes before they left the hospital, agreeing to come back later to visit their former co-worker.

Gibbs silently closed the door behind him, but the brunette woke up nevertheless, hearing the noises her newborn son made. She looked up at the older man and simply smiled, taking the fussing infant from her boyfriend. The profiler rocked the small boy softly in her arms and after a few moments he went back to his deep slumber. "It looks like he had enough of being looked at."

"They were still waiting outside?" The brunette asked incredulous and Gibbs just nodded, smiling contently at what he saw. He hadn´t felt this happy for a long time, the last time he felt this untarnished happiness was when he held Kelly for the first time. Since he had dared to imagine having children with Caitlin Todd, he had always known deep down that she would be a good mother and now it seemed like he was right. It looked so natural that she was holding their baby.

"Well, remember of which team we´re speaking here, but nevertheless I would say it was Abbs who made them stay here the whole time." Gibbs answered and chuckled, earning a broad smile from his girlfriend before she looked down at the infant again.

"Okay, I get what you mean, but I would have counted on Abby being here when I wake up." Caitlin stated and gently rocked the sleeping boy. She was really happy that Noah inherited Jethro´s blue eyes, those eyes she fell in love with more than four years ago. Somehow she hoped that his now reddish hair would turn brown and not red like two of her three brothers and few of her niece´s and nephew´s had. Her mother always stated proudly that it were their Irish roots striking through while Kate was glad that she only had a shade of red in her hair-color.

"Would you marry me, Katie?" The silver-haired man asked and fetched a small velvet box out of his pocket, opening it for her. Caitlin was taken aback by his sudden change of topics and stared at the sparkling ring in awe.

"Yes…" She finally said and smiled at the older man, watching him slipping the ring on her finger. The profiler was still taken aback and she was quite sure that he could clearly see it on her face, but he captured her lips in a slow kiss before he took Noah from her arms and carefully laid him down in the bassinet, wheeling it over to Kate´s bed.

"I was thinking about proposing for some time now, but I didn´t want you to think I was doing it because I felt like I had to do it. I love you and Noah with my whole heart and I can´t even stand the thought of letting you go or losing you." The older man explained and grabbed her hand, playing with the ring which was now adorning her lank finger. He was looking right into her dark brown eyes which were now filled with unshed tears, letting her read in his that he was honest, that it was his heart speaking now.

"I love you too, Jethro." Kate replied unable to say anything else at the very moment. She could see that he meant what he said and she knew that he was right. If he had asked her shortly after the shooting, she would have turned him down because she thought that he felt constrained to marry her only because she was having his baby.


	18. Epilogue

"_I said I know the beat because it matched your own beat…  
__It's become my engine, my own source of heat…  
__The sea between us only amplifies the sound waves…  
__Every hum and echo and crash paints my cave…"_

_If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It by Snow Patrol_

Epilogue (Four years later)

The brunette helped the boy climbing out of the bathtub and dried him with a soft towel. She knew what would happen when she wanted to tuck him in. Like every day when Gibbs couldn´t make it home early enough from work the young child would complain that he wanted to stay up until his father came home. And of course it was always up to Kate to explain that he had to sleep now because he had to get up early for day-care in the morning. Noah would state that he didn´t need the sleep, but Kate would smile and simply read a story for him nevertheless. Most of the time the four-year-old fell asleep shortly after the story ended, leaving his mother to wonder how she and Gibbs made it to this point. After all it looked like she would raise him alone when she was pregnant until the fateful day when the team went to arrest Nathan Hayes.

"Look, do you like Spiderman, Noah?" Caitlin asked her four-year-old son and showed him a new pajama with Spiderman on its top. He was still growing at a pretty high speed and needed new clothes almost every week.

"Not much." The dark-haired child replied in a serious tone and shook his head slowly, but he put on the pajama nevertheless with a little help of his mother. He was getting more independent with each day, but at times he still wanted to stick his head into the hole for his arm.

"Why don´t you like Spiderman?" She asked and looked at him questioning, while preparing his toothbrush with a small drop of toothpaste. "I thought he is cool?"

"Yes but... Uh…" The boy replied solemnly and accepted the toothbrush, putting it into his mouth while he was obviously trying to find the words to explain what he was thinking. "Daddy is cooler than Spiderman."

The brunette just smiled and helped the four-year-old brushing his teeth. That was something she definitely had to tell Gibbs when he came home. The boy was making the day at home bearable for her though he stayed half of the day at day-care, while she went to the doctor´s appointments and made all the preparations she had to do after eight months of pregnancy. Both Gibbs and Kate had been surprised when she found out that she was pregnant again. They wanted to have another child a sibling for Noah though they also wanted to keep everything slow, but still they were happy about and definitely waiting for the newest addition to their family. "Okay, no more Spiderman I got it, honey, did you brush all of your teeth?"

Noah just nodded and spit into the sink, taking some fresh water to rinse his mouth. When he dried his face the brunette stood up and ushered the four-year-old into his room, sitting down on the edge of his bed and taking his favorite book from the nightstand. The child snuggled into her side and she laid her arm around him before she started reading. Like always he was taking a close look on every picture when his mother turned the page. Even at his young age the boy was already as highly observant as he was stubborn. Abby and Ducky would say that his stubbornness wasn´t a real surprise since both Kate and Gibbs had this character trait. During one of those occasions Tony had dared to wish them good luck if their second son would inherit it too, but Jethro´s cold glare made him shut up immediately, wishing that he never said anything. Just when Caitlin finished reading the last lines of the story, the two heard Gibbs downstairs.

"Daddy is home!" The small child stated smiling and before Kate could stop him he was out of the bed again, running downstairs. Slowly the brunette stood up and went downstairs as well, meeting her husband and older son halfway on the stairs.

"What did I tell you the last time about running away from your mom now, Noah?" The gray-haired man lightly scolded the boy he was carrying who looked down to the ground, suddenly very quiet. Gibbs on the other hand looked at his wife who was smiling back at him. Usually she could keep up with the boy´s pace, but being pregnant didn´t only make her stay away from work. "Huh?"

"I´m really sorry, mommy…" The dark-haired child mumbled and looked up at the profiler with upset blue eyes. Their resemblance was undoubtedly there as an infant everyone had said that he looked exactly like Kate, from the facial features to the thick reddish brown hair, until he opened his eyes revealing the same shade of blue Jethro had. The doctors told them that his eye-color was likely to change, but both were sure that they would remain blue.

"It´s okay, honey." Caitlin replied and stroked his head, giving him a smile. Finally Jethro climbed up the stairs left and the brunette followed them, pausing in the threshold while the gray-haired man put their son into his bed once again. Gibbs kissed his son goodnight and wanted to leave the room, but the four-year-old spoke up once again, surprising neither one of his parents.

"Can you read a story for me, daddy?" He asked the question accompanied by a huge yawn.

"I´m sure you already heard one, kiddo. I´ll try to read a story for you tomorrow, alright?" The NCIS agent asked and the child nodded slowly, his eyelids already drooping close. "Good."

The older man left the door ajar and turned around really looking at his wife for the first time since he came home. To him she was as beautiful as always despite her complaints that she was huge at the moment and would probably never get the slender figure back she had before she was pregnant the first time. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah though I can´t wait to hold him for the first time." The brunette replied and sat down on their bed, watching Gibbs locking up his service weapon in a box and putting it on the highest shelf next to Kate´s. They always took good care that their guns, Jethro´s rifle and ammunition were always locked out of Noah´s reach. When the agent was done he came over, sitting down behind the woman and starting to give her a backrub. He knew that her back was aching it had been the same when she was so far along with Noah and with Shannon he had experienced the same.

"Me neither." Gibbs said after a moment and felt her relax under his touch. "Today I found out that the team is putting money on which name we choose."

"What names do they bet on?" The female profiler asked and smiled at her former co-workers antics. With Noah they couldn´t set up a pool because they let the name slip in front of Abby and Kate didn´t really had the never to keep the forensic silent at that time there were too many other things which needed her attention, her family being one of the minor things then. "I only told Abbs the ones we short-listed because she wouldn´t stop asking."

"Well, those are the ones they bet on. DiNozzo and Ziva have their money on Fynn, Abby and McGee are in for Brady only Ducky goes for Liam." Gibbs explained in an amused tone. They already choose a name, but it was nevertheless fun to watch the team guessing while knowing who would get the money in the end.

"Don´t get me wrong I´m happy for Ducky, but somehow it is boring that he always wins all the bets." Caitlin stated and followed Gibbs lead to rest against his chest, simply savoring the moment of calmness they could share. Both knew they would be back soon to the routine of feeding every two hours and changing diapers continuously.

A/N: Well, that´s it obviously. I hope you enjoyed the story and thanks for continuing reading despite the long delay. Take care and please review one last time on your way out!


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